For more than twenty years scientists have been searching for signs of life on other planets. Most of these searches have been done over the radio. The hope is that someone in outer space may be trying to get in touch with us. Scientists also have sent radio and television messages on spaceships travelling through space, on the chance that someone may be receptive to such message.

　　Scientists are using powerful radio telescopes to listen to signals from about 1,000 stars, all within 100 light years of Earth. In addition, they will scan the entire sky to "listen" for radio messages from more distant stars. Using a computer, they will be able to monitor more than eight channels at one time. Scientists are looking for any signal that stands out from the background noise.

　　Of the 200 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy, scientists find that five percent are like our sun. Perhaps half of them have a planet like Earth. Such a planet would be a reasonable distance from the star for temperatures to be right for the evolution (进化) of life. Based on the inhabitable (可居住的) planets in our galaxy, most scientists agree that chances are likely that one or more of these planets support some life.

　　However, many scientists wonder whether intelligent life exists on other planets. Some believe that twenty years of searching without any intelligible messages shows that no one is out there. They say that the evolution of intelligence comparable to ours is unlikely.

Other scientists believe that our search hasn’t been long enough to rule out the possibility that intelligent life exists in our galaxy. Although our sun family is only about five billion years old, our galaxy is about 20 billion years old. In that time, some scientists think it is likely that civilization much more advanced than ours have developed. Perhaps these civilizations send us no signals; perhaps we have not recognized the signals they have sent us. If we hope to find intelligent life, these scientists believe that we have to keep looking.

1.According to the passage, how many planets in our galaxy might be inhabitable?

   A. 5 billion         B. 10 billion           C. 15 billion           D. 200 billion

2.The first paragraph in this passage is mainly about __________.

   A. how scientists are looking for signs of life on other planets

   B. why scientists are looking for signs of life on other planets

   C. where scientists are looking for signs of life on other planets

   D. When scientists are looking for signs of life on other planets

3.The underlined word “monitor” in Paragraph two means “__________”.

   A. find              B. follow            C. check           D. form

4.Which of the following is TRUE based on the information in the passage?

A. The earth is the oldest planet in our galaxy.

B. All scientists believe that there is intelligent life on other planets.

C. Scientists are trying different ways to find signs of life on other planets.

D. Scientists will give up the search for signs of life on other planets.

Forget chip fat, sugar cane or rapeseed (油菜籽) oil – the latest source of biofuel could be waterinelons. Scientists have discovered that the fruit is a great source of sugar that can be readily distilled (蒸馏) into alcohol to power cars and farm machinery.

And because sellers reject 360,000 tons of “substandard” fruit annually in America alone they could be used as an economical way to make fuel. The waste from US growers could produce nearly two million gallons (nine million litres) of biofuel per year.

In the study, researchers at the US Deparument of Agriculture set out to determine the biofuel potential of juice from rejected watermelons – those not sold due to cosmetic imperfections, and currently ploughed back into the field.

About a fifth of each annual watermelon crop is left in the field because of surface blemishes (瑕疵) or because they are misshapen.

Dr Wayne Fish, who led the team, found that 50 percent of the fruit was fermentable (可发酵的) into alcohol which could provide valuable fuel.

“We’ve shown that the juice of these melons is a source of readily fermentable sugars, representing and unexploited raw material for alcohol biofuel production.” he said.

The study, published in the journal Biotechnology for Biofuels, discovered that watermelons could produce around 20 gallons of fuel per acre from fruit that otherwise would go to waste.

Production of biofuels has been targeted by western governments as a way to support renewable energy targets.

The European Union has a target for 2013 that 5.75 percent of transport fuels should come from biological sources, but the target is unlikely to be met.

The British government’s Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation requires five percent of the fuel sold at the pump by 2013 to be biofuel.

63．The passage mainly tells us 　　　　.

　　　 A．watermelons could be used to make fuel

　　　 B．western countries aim at producing bifuels

　　　 C．fuel made from watermelons has many advantages

　　　 D．watermelon juice will be the largest source of renewable energy

64．We can learn from the text that 　　　　　.

　　　 A．about two gallons of fuel could be made from rejected fruit per acre

　　　 B．sellers in the world throw away 360,000 tons of watermelons every year

　　　 C．half of the watermelons were fermentable into alcohol to provide energy

　　　 D．five percent of fuel is required to be biofuel from watermelons by 2013 in Britain

65．The underlined word “cosmetic” in Paragraph 4 probably means 　　　　.

　　　 A．inside B．flavor C．freshness D．appearance

66．We can infer from the passage that 　　　　.

　　　 A．it will cost a lot to make biofuel from watermelons

　　　 B．the EU is likely to meet its target of transport fuels from biological sources

　　　 C．western countries are engaged in biofuel study but still have a long way to go

　　　 D．watermelon juice has been used as a resource of sugars to produce alcohol biofuel.

阅读理解

　　It is commonly believed in the United States that school is where people go to get an education. Nevertheless, it has been said that today children interrupt their education to go to school. The difference. between schooling and education implied by this remark is important.

　　Education is much more open-ended and all inclusive than schooling. Education knows not limits. It can take place any-where, whether in the shower or on the job, whether in a kitchen or on a tractor. It includes both the formal learning that takes place in schools and the whole universe of informal learning. The agent (door) of education can vary from respected grandparent to the people arguing about politics on the radio, from a child to a famous scientist. Whereas schooling has a certain prodictability (可预料性), education quite often preduces surprises. A chance conversation with a stranger may lead a person to discover how little is known of other religions(宗教). People receive education from infancy (婴儿时期) on. Education, then, is a very broad, inclusive term. It is a life-long process, a process that starts long before the start of school, and one that should be a necessary part of one's entire life.

　　Schooling, on the other hand, . is a specific, formalized process, whose general pattern varies little from one setting to the next. Throughout a country, children arrive at school at about the same time, take the assigned seats, are taught by an adult, use similar textbooks, do homework, take exams, and so on. The pieces of reality that are to be learned, whether they are the alphabet or an understanding of the workings of government, have been limited by the subjects being taught. For example, high school students know that they are not likely to find out in classes the truth about political problems in their society or what the newest film-makers are experimenting with. There are clear and undoubtful conditions surrounding the formalized process of schooling.

1．The passage is organized by ________

[　　]

A．giving examples of different schools

B．telling stories about excellent teachers

C．listing and discussing several educational problems

D．telling the difference between the meanings of two related words

2．The passage supports which of the following statements?

[　　]

A．Education systems need to be changed as soon as possible.

B．Without formal education, people won't be able to read and write.

C．Going to school is only part of how people become educated.

D．Schooling is of no use because students do similar things every day.

3．What does the writer mean by using the expression “children interrupt their education to go to school” in paragraph one?

[　　]

A．All of life is education.

B．learning takes place everywhere.

C．Education is totally mined by schooling.

D．Schooling prevents people from discover new things.

4．What is the main idea of the passage?

[　　]

A．The best schools teach a variety of subjects.

B Education and schooling are quite different experiences.

C．The more years the students go to school, the better their education is.

D．Students benefit from schools, which require long hours and homework.

阅读理解

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　It is commonly believed in the United States that school is where people go to get an education. Nevertheless, it has been said that today children interrupt their education to go to school. The difference between schooling and education implied by this remark is important.

　　Education is much more openended and allinclusive than schooling. Education knows not limits. It can take place anywhere, whether in the shower or on the job, whether in a kitchen or on a tractor. It includes both the formal learning that takes place in schools and the whole universe of information learning. The agent (doer) of education can vary from respected grandparent to the people arguing about politics on the radio, from a child to a famous scientist. Whereas schooling has a certain predictability (可预料性), education quite often produces surprises. A chance conversation with a stranger may lead a person to discover how little is known of other religions (宗教). People receive education from infancy (婴幼儿) on. Education, then, is a very broad, inclusive term. It is a lifelong process (过程), a process that starts long before the start of school, and one that should be a necessary part of one's entire life.

　　Schooling, on the other hand, is a specific, formalized process, whose general pattern varies little from one setting to the next. Throughout a country, children arrive at school at about the same time, take the assigned (指定的) seats, are taught by an adult, use similar textbooks, do homework, take exams, and so on. The pieces of reality that are to learned, whether they are the alphabet or an understanding of the workings of government, have been limited by the subjects being taught, For example, high school students know that they are not likely to find out in their classes the truth about political problems in their sociery or what the newest filmmakers are experimenting with. There are clear and undoubtful conditions surrounding the formalized process of schooling.

1．The passage is organized by ________.

[　　]

A．listing and discussing several educational problems

B．telling a story about excellent teachers

C．giving examples of different schools

D．telling the difference between the meanings of two related words

2．The passage supports which of the following statements?

[　　]

A．Going to school is only part of how people become educated.

B．Without formal education, people won't be able to read and write.

C．Education systems need to be changed as soon as possible.

D．Schooling is of no use because students do similar things every day.

3．The phrase “For example”, in paragraph 3, introduces a sentence ________.

[　　]

A．that shows the unknown workings of government

B．that brings about the bad results of schooling

C．that helps to find out some similar textbooks

D．that gives examples of the limits of classroom subjects

4．What does the writer mean by using the expression “children interrupt their education to go to school” in paragraph 1?

[　　]

A．Education is totally ruined by schooling.

B．Learning takes place everywhere.

C．All of life is an education.

D．schooling prevents people from discovering new things

5．What is the main idea of this passage?

[　　]

A．The more years students go to school the better their education is.

B．Education and schooling are quite different experiences.

C．The best schools teach a variety of subjects.

D．Students benefit from schools, which require long hours and homework.